Primordial Era: Taking the blame to become a saint, proving one's path through eccentricity!

Chapter 314 [Shakyamuni was an imposter, but his true heart was genuine] (Please subscribe)

"Pangu's Dream!"

Xuan Yin stated definitively, "This should be the dream of the Great God Pangu, only it was transformed into its current form by those two Western sages!"

"but----

"It should now be called the Buddhist realm!"

"In this world, all is the Buddha's boundless and wondrous truth. Shariputra, all dharmas are empty in nature, neither arising nor ceasing, neither defiled nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing. Therefore, in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, perception, volition, or consciousness, no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind, no form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharma, no eye-consciousness, and so forth, up to no mind-consciousness, no ignorance, nor the cessation of ignorance, and so forth, up to no old age and death, nor the cessation of old age and death, no suffering, origination, cessation, or path, no wisdom, and no attainment. Because there is nothing to be attained, Bodhisattvas, relying on Prajnaparamita, have no hindrance in their minds. Because there is no hindrance, they have no fear, are far removed from distorted views and dreams, and ultimately attain Nirvana."

The Way of Dreams is also the Way of the Heart. What the heart desires, the dream will respond to. The foundation of Buddhism and Taoism may lie in the essence of this world.

Upon hearing this, Cihang and the others seemed to be deep in thought, and began to use their divine senses to search for the infinite and profound truths of Buddha within this vast dream.

Everywhere is filled with Buddhist essence and Zen sounds. Golden lotuses bloom in the void, and even the houses and palaces in this world are filled with sandalwood incense!

But the group showed no reluctance and instead headed straight for the center of the world.

There is a huge Bodhi tree there!

Under the Bodhi tree, Shakyamuni expounded the profound Dharma, and even Amitabha Buddha and Cundi Buddha appeared to be devout believers.

"How is that possible?"

Xuan Yin found everything before him unbelievable. Under the Bodhi tree, there was a lotus pond with hundreds and thousands of golden lotuses constantly blooming and dying. The layout of this place was almost exactly the same as the Lonely Garden, the sacred site of Buddhism and Taoism.

but----

There are no Buddhas of Mount Ling here. Apart from Amitabha Buddha, Cundi Buddha Mother, and Shakyamuni Buddha, all those who listen to the teachings are beings born from the Buddhist realm.

However, Xuan Yin discerned some causal relationships between these beings and the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats in Buddhism.

The various stages of enlightenment in Buddhism seem to be formed by reflecting the origin of this world.

"Amitabha!"

Suddenly, Amitabha Buddha softly uttered a Buddhist chant, and all living beings around him instantly turned into bubbles, leaving only Xuan Yin, Ci Hang, and a few other outsiders.

"Unexpectedly, my young friends, you have such an opportunity to enter the Buddhist realm!"

Clearly, it was the consciousness of the Guide who descended upon Amitabha Buddha.

"I have met the Sage!"

Xuan Yin and the others quickly paid their respects.

Amitabha Buddha smiled and said, "No need for formalities. In this world, everything is illusory, and all beings are equal—naturally, there are no so-called saints!"

Upon hearing this, Cihang boldly asked, "May I ask Amitabha Buddha, why did you and Cundi Buddha bow to Shakyamuni as disciples? If I am not mistaken, surely he too is an illusion?"

Upon hearing this, Amitabha Buddha smiled and shook his head: "What is true may be false, and what is false may be true. How can you, young friend, know that Shakyamuni's enlightenment will not come to pass?"

In Jetavana Monastery, Shakyamuni represents the supreme being. Only the one who leads the Buddhist path in the present moment can preach to the many Buddhas of the past, present, and future in Jetavana Monastery in the capacity of Shakyamuni.

Dreams, seemingly unreal yet real, seemingly illusory yet true, are not without the possibility of becoming reality.

"Turning the fake into the real!"

Xuan Yin immediately confirmed his guess: "Shakyamuni? It's fake! May I ask, Amitabha Buddha, did you create a primordial origin of Buddhism out of thin air?"

The origin of the Immortal Path is Dao Ancestor Hongjun, the origin of the Demonic Path is Demon Ancestor Luo, and the origin of the Divine Path was not predetermined before Taiyi evolved with the help of his own origin; it's just that all living beings recognized Pangu more!

after all----

He is the Creator of everything!

Jieyin and Zhunti may have been the founders of Buddhism and Taoism, but they were also disciples accepted by Hongjun, the Taoist patriarch, during his three lectures at Zixiao Palace.

If these two were to be the originators of Buddhism and Taoism, Buddhism and Taoism would be inherently inferior to the Immortal Taoism!

So the two of them simply fabricated a Shakyamuni and tried to use the dream of Pangu and the wishes of all beings to make the fake Shakyamuni real.

In the Solitary Garden, the Buddhas preached in the name of Shakyamuni, also in order to make the concept of Shakyamuni more deeply rooted in people's hearts.

"good!"

Amitabha Buddha nodded in agreement, saying, "Young friend Xuan Yin, your insight is truly remarkable! The sages of the Xuanmen sect are pursuing perfection and all-encompassing understanding, while the Buddhist path pursues nothingness and extinction!"

"Throughout the three thousand Great Daos, one can attain the Great Luo Dao Fruit of Primordial Chaos; however, even a Great Luo Golden Immortal of Primordial Chaos cannot achieve true eternity!"

"Whether it's the Five Elements or Yin and Yang, they will all return to nothingness with the arrival of countless eons!"

"Each creation of the world is followed by a cycle of reincarnation. Even the great god Pangu had to abandon everything and start anew in a new era of chaos!"

"Since all things are illusory, why don't we directly pursue the illusory Great Dao?"

"Therefore, the core tenets of Buddhism primarily focus on the ethereal and intangible principles of reincarnation, karma, wisdom, and nirvana!"

"All conditioned things are impermanent, all conditioned things are suffering, all phenomena are without self, Nirvana is peace!"

"The Tao of the Xuanmen (Taoist school) is to first perfect oneself, and then reduce to seek emptiness, while the Tao of my Buddhist school has been pursuing annihilation and nothingness from the very beginning!"

"This is also the fundamental difference between the two!"

Upon hearing this, Xuan Yin, Ci Hang, Manjushri, and Samantabhadra all fell into deep thought. All four of them possessed the Great Luo Golden Immortal Dao Fruit of the Immortal Path and the Great Awakening Golden Immortal Dao Fruit of the Buddhist Path. Their comprehension far surpassed that of ordinary people, so they could naturally understand the profound truths expounded by Amitabha Buddha.

Amitabha Buddha glanced at the four people and continued, "The fruits of sainthood are merely appearances. What you see as Shakyamuni is the true fruit of my and Cundi Buddha Mother's enlightenment, which is inherently illusory, like a dream or illusion. Naturally, it owes nothing to the Great Dao of this chaotic universe in terms of cause and effect!"

"And this is precisely the state of subtraction and emptiness that the sages of the Xuanmen have been pursuing!"

Upon hearing this, Manjushri, the Heavenly Venerable of Vast Dharma, couldn't help but say, "Although Shakyamuni is an illusion, he was transformed into reality through the power of sentient beings' vows. He doesn't owe the chaotic universe any karmic debts, but doesn't he owe sentient beings any karmic debts?"

"Of course we owe it!"

Amitabha Buddha nodded slightly: "But after countless eons, when everything is empty and all things return to stillness, the cause and effect of sentient beings will naturally cease to exist!"

There is no effect without a cause. If all living beings are gone, how can cause and effect still exist?

To put it bluntly, it's a matter of death canceling debts!

Xuan Yin's focus, however, was not on this, but rather on Shakyamuni: "Is this the combined enlightenment of you and Cundi Buddha Mother?"

"Two people sharing one Dao Fruit?"

Upon hearing this, Amitabha Buddha immediately smiled and said, "Why not? Since one person can attain two, or even three or four fruits of enlightenment, why can't I and Cundi Buddha Mother attain one fruit of enlightenment together?"

Pinduoduo proves its path?

Xuan Yin's lips twitched involuntarily: "I just find it a little hard to believe!"

Amitabha Buddha continued, "Actually, it's not just the two of you who share a single fruit of enlightenment. All the Buddhas of Vulture Peak, including the four of you who attained the great Bodhisattva fruits of enlightenment, are all fruits of the Buddha path, all fruits of Shakyamuni Buddha's enlightenment!"

"only----"

"The four great Bodhisattvas of wisdom, compassion, practice, and vows, as well as the Buddhas of the three times, these attainments are merely one of the core components of Shakyamuni's path to enlightenment!"

"It is precisely for this reason that the four of you have had the opportunity to come here!"

Xuan Yin suddenly realized something and couldn't help but recall the method used to connect the consciousnesses of all Buddhas when he first went to the Lonely Garden to listen to the teachings.

"United as one!"

At the time, he only felt that the power of all the Buddhas in Jetavana Monastery was gathered together, but now it seems that it was Shakyamuni who connected them together.

The Three Buddhas of the Three Times (Vertical, Horizontal, and Spatial) represent the time dimension, encompassing the past, present, and future, while the Three Buddhas of the Three Times (Horizontal, Spatial, and Spatial) represent the spatial dimension, including the East, the Center, and the West, the Three Realms and Ten Directions, the Four Births and Six Paths, and the endless space-time, all bearing traces of Shakyamuni's enlightenment, or the enlightenment of the Buddha's path!

As for the fruits of enlightenment of the four great Bodhisattvas, they represent the qualities of Shakyamuni.

Great compassion and great vows, great wisdom and great deeds!

The so-called seeing the origin of Buddhism and Taoism, and seeing the infinite and wondrous truth, means entering into the body of Shakyamuni and transforming from a participant in the masses into a leader.

It's the same principle as joining Pangu Plaza!

Once you enter the realm of Shakyamuni, won't the Buddhist insights and philosophies of all the Buddhas of Vulture Peak flow towards you like a stream?

There will naturally be endless benefits!

"Young friend, you are indeed intelligent!"

Listening to Xuan Yin's analysis, Amitabha Buddha smiled and nodded: "Shakyamuni is an imposter, but his true nature is real. As long as we Buddhist cultivators focus our minds, the enlightenment of Shakyamuni can naturally be transformed from an imposter into a real one!"

Xuan Yin, however, did not believe it and frowned, asking, "Then why is there a debate between Mahayana and Hinayana Buddhism?"

Amitabha Buddha smiled and explained, "Only through struggle and clash can Buddhism and Taoism progress! Aren't Fellow Daoist Tongtian and Fellow Daoist Yuanshi also on vastly different paths, rivals and friends, serving as each other's references?"

Then, with a sincere expression, he said, "It is by chance that you four young friends have arrived here. I wonder if you are willing to truly integrate into Buddhism?"

The true integration he spoke of was not like Xuan Yin, joining Buddhism through his physical body, but rather transforming oneself into a Buddhist practitioner from the very beginning.

Upon hearing this, Xuan Yin glanced at Cihang and the other two, then looked at Amitabha Buddha: "Amitabha Buddha, aren't you afraid that by undermining the Chan and Jie sects like this, our Xuanmen's sages might storm Mount Sumeru?"

There is a big difference between entering Buddhism under a pseudonym and entering Buddhism as the true self. Entering Buddhism under a pseudonym can be described as inclusive and drawing on the strengths of others, while entering Buddhism as the true self means changing one's own foundation!

Amitabha Buddha smiled and said, "The past is not immutable. As long as the cause and effect are altered, whether those young friends entered the Chan or Jie schools first, or the Buddhist order first—is all open to discussion!"

Change the cause to change the effect!

This is a great supernatural power of cause and effect.

Just like the Taoist Ran Deng, as the vice leader of the Chan Sect and the Buddha of the past in Buddhism, after he realized the most ancient source of the primordial true world, no one knows whether he entered Buddhism first or the Chan Sect first!

Perhaps he first entered Buddhism to prove the most ancient origin, becoming the deputy leader of the Chan sect, and then used the characteristics of the causes and effects of the various fruits of the Primordial Heavenly Venerable to reverse the past.

Perhaps he first entered the Chan Sect, then abandoned Taoism for Buddhism, becoming a Buddha of the past in Buddhism, and then erased his dark history with the characteristics of the most ancient source.

Therefore, if Cihang and the others were willing, the two Western Saints could completely change the cause and effect, and do some things on the timeline before they joined the Chan Sect, so that they would form a karmic connection with Buddhism in advance.

In this way, their joining the Chan Sect can only be considered as going to the Chan Sect for further study.

It doesn't count as betrayal!

Amitabha Buddha continued, "Since you four possess the qualities of Shakyamuni and have the opportunity to come to this Buddhist realm, as long as you turn to the Western Paradise, I will bestow upon you a great opportunity!"

"While it may not make you saints, achieving a Quasi-Saint Dao Fruit is still possible!"

Xuan Yin remained unmoved.

Cihang and the others, however, were completely absorbed in their own thoughts, unsure how to respond to Amitabha Buddha!

The Second Saint!

This is already a top-tier existence below the Saint level, enough to make ordinary Great Luo give up everything—even Cihang and others are somewhat tempted!

after all----

In those twenty reincarnations, none of the three achieved the status of a sub-saint!

Becoming a sub-sage is undoubtedly a step closer to becoming a sage or a Primordial Golden Immortal, and one is already qualified to glimpse that mysterious realm!

In the end, it was Cihang Daoren who spoke up first: "Becoming a Quasi-Sage is not so easy to achieve, Amitabha Buddha, it's best not to make promises lightly!"

Upon hearing this, Amitabha Buddha smiled and said, "Originally, the hope was indeed slim, but now that you young friends have entered the Buddhist realm, this humble monk is seventy or eighty percent confident that I can help you achieve the status of a near-saint!"

"If you four young friends convert to Buddhism, this humble monk can impart to you the four fundamental teachings of Buddhism!"

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